Hobbies and Crafts

My Chester has quite a few lumps ,one big one on his haunch So far they seem to be all fatty lumps.I hope Madocs is OK .
Big Barney's with the birds today.Battle between the Robins and Blackbirds and the Fatballs lol

At one stage this afternoon I counted five goldfinches round the nyger seed.

Anybody seen Dizzie Lizzie around, she doesn't seem to have been on here since 1st December.

Nudging .

We have one lonely apple hanging right under our apple tree which the blutits love. then this morning we have watched a bird eating the apple for about 10 minutes, we think it was a Redwing, if not it was a Fieldfare. Will know more when I download the photos I took, I hope they will be clear enough as I was taking them from the window.

Fed the birds about 3 times already, including cooked rice, they love it.
We have a fluffed up female blackbird that won't stand for long, she'll fly about from post to post and eat, l think she's eating then resting in the sun to warm up and back again for food....hope she's ok!!

l'll put the photo's on the blog if u want Ann??

We have Reed bunting, one was here about a yr ago, bit like very pretty looking sparrow, with creamier chest:o))

Madoc.....vet rang this morning to say the sample shows it could potentially be cancer , fortunately not the bone type, but the muscle. So he's in for the removal of the lump first thing tomorrow tohave it properly sussed.
Positive thoughts please for our mad dog, dear little man:o))) he's very happy though and not at all bothered, so it can't be hurting, lets hope its just one of those fatty things!!
5 Goldfinches....we don't get one:o((( BUTTTT we do get 15 Woodpigeons, great big lumps. 2 of those are youngsters or a different type of pigeon
Off now for home made soup:o))

DIZZILIZZIE....where are you???? miss reading your lovely discriptions of whats going on in your garden!!

jude :o)

Strange how your birds will eat cooked rice and our wont isn't it Jude? I remember that before.

I haven't downloaded photos yet but will send you a couple when I do.

Posisitve thoughts for Madoc of course bless him, hope all is OK.

I saw a bird Iv'e never seen here before just flying over the house and I think it was a Curlew.We are right in the middle of the country!!
Fingers crossed for Madoc tomorrow Jude.

That was a lucky sighting Jane.

This morning we had 6 blackbirds in the garden, all male.

Various photo's on blog:o))

Phoneing the vets at 2pm to check he's ready to come home.

Fed the birds again just a few mins ago with cheap digestives, atora and sultana's.....most of the rice was still there and frozen so threw it away. l'm sure they started to eat it, maybe it froze too soon and if l remember rightly they did'nt eat much last yr when l put some out, which when this thread started!!
Have some pears ripening, they left 2 tomatoes the other day, but Madoc found them and tried eating them...yuck!! lol
Wow Jane that was something to see:o))
Get back later.

jude :o) x

PS....there were a doz m/blackbirds waiting v/early this morning, it was still a wee bit dark, up early for madoc 's appointment.
The reed bunting is here again:o)

I put some raspberries out that had gone over,but I don't see them being eaten.The blackbirds seem to like the apples and the Meelworm that I have been chucking uner the hedge where there is no snow.
Some kind of hawk almost flew into my kitchen window earlier.It was a close call!! Phew lol

Jane....you could do with one of those night camera/video thingies, you have so much going on around you there.

Still no news of Dizzie.....also Bellblair, hope you are both well??

jude :o) x

I have PMd Dizzy but not had a reply. haven't checked if it has been opened will have to do that.

We had the Fieldfare in the garden again today eating some chopped apple we put out. trouble is one of the 4 resident male blackbirds frightened it off.

No She has not opened the PM. Hope she is OK. Maybe they have gone away for a couple of months or something.

I have just bought a huge bag of mixed seed, some extra suet, a tub of fat balls and a big bag of value sultanas... they didn't have raisins or I'd have got those, too... so far, everything we have put out has been demolished... and before we went out this morning, joy of joys... the jays were feeding on the shed roof!! Now that brought a lump to my throat.

The thrush was sitting on the fence when we got back in, too.... I cut the fat off the pork we are having tonight, and chopped it up, and added it to a bit of cat food....... I have put that in amongst the shrubs, which is where I saw loads of snail shells earlier in the years, so am assuming it's *anvil* is there. Also put fat balls and catfood further up, as it seems robins and blackbirds like that, too.

It has just started to snow again, here.

Love

Daff xxxx

Well they don't fancy the raspberries lol.Just went to check the bird bath,and there seem to be birds everywhere.They suddenly appeared.I think things have maybe thawed a little in the last few hours.But now the sun has gone it'll soon freeze up again.Daff you must have spent a fortune lol.I think I paid £6 for my tub of fatballs.I don't know if that is a reasonable price.
The ones I hung on the hedge down the lane will need replacing tomorrow.

I thought you were having a sleep madam!!

I was..... but got sidetracked... R is now doing the dinner.... I am really really off now... the phone went, brother ringing to see how it all went, lol

Jane, things like suet won't go to waste... if the birds don't need it, I shall use it for dumplings, lol... I don't normally feed the birds... I have five cats, and the two youngsters are in their prime at just over 2... another only has 3 legs so tends to lollop... she can't creep up on them... and the two old girls spend all day hunting out sunspots and warm patches, lolol but the boys more than make up for them... the weather as it is though.... well, the birds might die of starvation, so it is desperate measures for them.... I have tried to put everything in places that will be difficult for cats to come up unawares.

Love

Daff xxxx who is off for a nap, honestly, Ann xxxxxx

Hi
Would you believe it I looked out the window this morning and there were two Magpies building a nest.
Mind you they might have been building a shelter from the cold!!
Take care everyone.
Von
who has now thawed out after the heating has been fixed.

did they put a roof on it Von? We thought we saw starlings collecting nesting material last week before the snow, they may have changed their minds now though.